Chelsea riverside home of revolutionary painter JMW Turner goes on sale for £11M
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The former Thames-side house of British revolutionary painter JMW Turner has gone up for sale for £11m.
The Grade II listed historic property where the 18th century artist spent his last years is located on London’s Cheyne Walk in Chelsea.
Turner, who painted The Fighting Temeraire, voted Britain’s greatest work of art in 2005 and featured in the Bond film Skyfall, is said to have installed the balustrade on the property’s roof, as a place from which he could paint. , and used the master bedroom as his study
The little street next to the Thames has also been home to many other famous faces, including writer George Eliot, James Bond creator Ian Fleming, whose mother lived in Turner’s house, Rolling Stone Sir Mick Jagger. Even King Henry VIII once had an estate there.
The Grade II listed historic property where the 18th century artist spent his last years is located on London’s Cheyne Walk in Chelsea.
The Chelsea house retains many original features; from the cloistered hall which has its original 18th century herringbone parquet floor, to a vaulted main reception room
Turner’s work sells in the millions: His most recent painting sold was Ehrenbreitstein’s German Landscape, which sold for £18.5m in London in 2017.
His painting Rome of the Aventine Hill sold for £30.3 million in 2014.
His Chelsea home retains many original features; from the cloistered hall which has its original 18th century herringbone parquet flooring, to a vaulted main reception room with a soaring four meter ceiling.
The property, which originally consisted of two houses, features three landscaped courtyards and two elegant balconies on the first and second floors.
All the remaining dwellings, including two further reception rooms, two kitchens and a large formal dining room, are connected by a tranquil courtyard in the center of the dwelling.
Along with the eight bedrooms, there are five bathrooms, several dressing rooms and a mezzanine library.
Visitors arrive in the lower courtyard at the gatehouse leading to the first reception room, with another leading off of it.
The kitchen is to the rear of the first dining room, which leads to the covered walkway. There is also a toilet, another dining room and another kitchen on this level.
The historic Grade II listed property boasts an elegantly designed main reception room with a soaring four meter ceiling
The eight-bedroom property includes a vaulted main reception room, two further reception rooms, two kitchens and a large formal dining room.
All the remaining dwellings, including two further reception rooms, two kitchens and a large formal dining room, are connected by a tranquil courtyard in the center of the dwelling.
Along with eight bedrooms, there are five bathrooms, several dressing rooms and a mezzanine library.
Visitors arrive in the lower courtyard to the front door leading to the first reception room, with another leading to it.
The kitchen is to the rear of the first dining room, which leads to the covered walkway.
The former home of the painter JMW Turner includes two elegant balconies on the first and second floors, overlooking the River Thames
The Grade II listed property, which was originally two houses, comes with three landscaped courtyards.
The little street next to the Thames has also been home to many other famous faces, including writer George Eliot, James Bond creator Ian Fleming, whose mother lived in the Turner house, and Rolling Stone Sir Mick Jagger.
The mezzanine houses a bedroom, bathroom and library, and the first floor houses the master bedroom, with another two, plus two bathrooms and a dressing room and balcony.
The second floor has two more bedrooms with two family size bathrooms and the third floor houses two more bedrooms and a balcony.
Suzie Kirstein, an associate partner at Carter Jonas Mayfair, described the property as “one of a kind.”
She said: “It’s not often that you can find a house where someone as important as Turner lived and worked.”
‘It belongs to an older couple who have enjoyed living there but are now planning to downsize.
The property is amazing, but it is in need of restoration, so I think it would be wonderful to find a new owner with that in mind.’
She believes the house could be suitable for a European or British family with adult or older children, who could take advantage of the house’s location and appreciate its unique history and artistic heritage.
Who was JMW Turner?
Self-portrait by JMW Turner, 1799
Joseph Mallord William Turner, born in Covent Garden in 1775, into a lower-middle-class family of a father who ran a wig-cutting and barbershop business.
The English Romantic painter is known for his vivid landscapes and often violent marine paintings.
After studying at the Royal Academy of Arts from 1789, he opened his own gallery in 1804.
Although he did not marry, Turner had two daughters, Evelina and Georgiana, by his housekeeper Sarah Danby.
Tragically, he lived in poverty and poor health from 1845, dying in London in 1851 at the age of 76.
The visionary artist left behind 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolors and 30,000 works on paper.
Turner is buried in St Paul’s Cathedral, London.